Olive-Green Swamp Grasshopper

Olive-green swamp grasshopper perched on a grass blade
Scientific Name
Paroxya clavuliger (syn. P. hoosieri)
Family
Acrididae (short-horned grasshoppers) in the order Orthoptera (grasshoppers, katydids, crickets)
Description

The olive-green swamp grasshopper has a dark line through its eye, and the hind legs have bluish tibias (shin-like segments). Other key identifiers include the relatively long antennae, which are especially long in males. The antenna length is greater than the length of the hind femur (thigh-like segment).

This species is a member of the spur-throated grasshopper subfamily, in the short-horned grasshopper family. If you turn it upside-down, you will see a small pointy bump, or spur, where you would think its throat would be.

Learn more about this and other short-horned grasshoppers on their group page.

Other Common Names
Hoosier Grasshopper
Salt Marsh Grasshopper

This species is found in the thick, lush plant growth of pond edges, wetlands, and other wet areas.

This species has undergone several scientific name changes. Among its many alternate names, for a long time, it was called Paroxya hoosieri, or the Hoosier grasshopper. The names may yet change again.

Media Gallery
Olive-green swamp grasshopper perched on a grass blade
The olive-green swamp grasshopper has a dark line through its eye, and the hind legs have bluish tibias. Also called the Hoosier grasshopper, it is found in the lush plant growth of pond edges and wetlands.
Jim Rathert
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Olive-green swamp grasshopper viewed from side
The olive-green swamp grasshopper is one of many insects that live in wetlands. They help make wetlands a productive place for birds, fishes, and many other insect-eating animals.
Jim Rathert
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Olive-green swamp grasshopper perched on a grass blade
Olive-green swamp grasshopper viewed from side
Similar Species
About Land Invertebrates in Missouri
Invertebrates are animals without backbones, including earthworms, slugs, snails, and arthropods. Arthropods—invertebrates with “jointed legs” — are a group of invertebrates that includes crayfish, shrimp, millipedes, centipedes, mites, spiders, and insects. There may be as many as 10 million species of insects alive on earth today, and they probably constitute more than 90 percent all animal species.